Critique my lifedrawing please

[pandaladie]

http://amandajohanssontawportfolio.tumbl...fe_drawing

I'm applying for an animationschool that put heavy weight on lifedrawings, the link is to my portfolio on tumblr, I would appreciate it if someone told me what I should do better, or what I could add here.

Youa re free to critique the rest of the portfolio too but the lifedrawing and perspective is wha t I'm most concerned about : o

Example from link:

[Alchimi]

Hey, nice to see life drawings. Try to do many of these, they help a lot.

Don't hesitate to at least indiquate with a cross the center line of the face and the eye lines. The ear is also a nice feature to indiquate how the head turns. Don't try to detail the face for quick poses, jsut indiquate it's basic orientation.

Do you start the drawings by the head, or something else? try to start by spotting the orientation of the shoulders and the hips. Pay attention to how the body rest on the ground on its standing points, the feets, or the hands. Think about balance and weight.

Try not to jump to detail on short poses, concentrate on rythm flow and proportions. For very short poses, like 30 secondes to 1 minutes, you can concentrate only on the rythm of the pose, and not try to have the perfect proportions...
For longer poses, 5 minutes and up, don't forget that a human body is not flat like a piece of paper, but has a front, side, and back. Try to sense the volume, think of boxes and cylinder to spot how the forms are in perspective from your point of view.
Don't hesitate to learn anatomy, like the skeleton and apparent muscles, and how they can move in space, and apply that to the live drawings.
Combining both, anatomy and observation, structure and rythm and flow, will improve your drawings. It's hard, but with practice and time you will find it will become a second nature.

For long poses, don't hesitate to turn around the model, and draw the same pose from multiple point of vue.
Carry a sketchbook and do some sketch in streets, too.

Your drawings are nice, just go on and do more. You'll improve with the years, just try to do some each week. it's like playing a guitar :)
Micheal Di Mattesi wrote a very good book on that subject: "Force", which I higly recommend. He gave drawing classe in animation studios like dreamworks.

(Sorry for the long post, I do life drawings since more than ten years now and I just wanted to throw in my two cents, hope it will help)

[pandaladie]

Thank you so much : )

I try to get myself to draw these kinds of things outside of school, but then I start wondering if doing lifedrawigns from pictures on the internet even compares to "real" life drawings? maybe I should draw more than jsut people.

I'm jsut really nervous about my protfolio really, I know it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't get in this year, but it would still hurt. So thats why I'm trying to improve even now.

I jsut gotta get myself to do the things I need to do without abcking out : )

Thank you for your tips, I'll keep them in mind : D

[Alchimi]

I really recommend to do life drawings from life models, not photos. If you can manage to. Still try to do some drawings from cafe sketch or from looking at relatives, friends or family, if you can't manage to find a life drawing classes with models.
And don't draw only peoples, draw props and objects and streets...

These 2 youtube videos, from a course demo of the cgma website, are very good on sketching principles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgDNDOKnArk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFVggG7aj...8dFWeBdyNA

About perspective, Scott Robertson wrote a very good book on the subject; "how to draw".
(I'm not trying to sell you books or stuff here, just pointing you to good learning material)

About improving your portfolio. just draw and learn and have fun, you'll improve. That won't come overnight, but the more you work, the more you'll improve.
And don't forget to have fun and draw from your imagination. All these studies about techniques and reality are here to improve what you want to draw.

[Adam Lina]

Looks like you are thinking about negative space which is a good practice. Maybe post some of your 30 second sketches as well. It will give us a better idea of your process. Trying to represent the full gesture with 4 or 5 lines will make it easier keep the gesture loose. Michael Hampton's book Figure Drawing: Design and Invention is highly recommended too. I second the force lines advice as well. Its good to have a rhythm when drawing. For instance you would start with a "c" or "s" curve on the torso and move down to the curve on the hip on the opposite side, following the natural flow of the pose. Just try to research everything you can on figure drawing and try out everything. Somethings work better for other people so find what works and keep an open mind when learning.

[pandaladie]

@Hypnagogic_Haze I have a sort of limited access to nude drawing sessions, my teacher decides how fast or how slow we go. But I'll see what I can do : ) we have a class tomorrow so maybe I can add something then. thank you for the tips : D

@Alchimi Thank you again, I'll try and find somewhere where I can sketch without looking like a creep ^^''
otherwise I can try sketching things in my room : ) I'll watch those videos, thank you guys for helping me